Auditioned KEF Q7

I audioned KEF Q7 last week-end at Woodbridge Stereo in Woodbridge, NJ. Actually I went in to look(or hear) the Q5s, but it was not on floor for the demo. So I ended up checking Q7s out. Can't remember the receiver they were connected to, but it was a bi-polar connection. The CD player was Denon and no sub woofer.

I presently do not have any decent sound system at home. Mostly I hear my CDs in my car which has very powerful and good sounding Bose speakers. Hey, I am not advocating Bose here... jewel cubes a definite No No for me... . Also, I mostly hear Indian songs. Asian Indian, not american indian. Anyway, I was actually comparing the performance of the same songs I play in my car against the Q7s, but I did not hear any significantly upward(for the lack of better terms) sound performance. May be this is completely wrong comparison, not apples to apples. But I seriously expected some imporvement. The bass was excellent especially with no sub-woofers connected. Now, I had auditioned some Definitive Technology a while at 6th Ave with sub-woofers connected and there was some significant punch and I was pleased. I am certain that if I had sub-woofers connected to Q7s, it would be much better.

Also, the sales person somehow favored Q7 over Q5 and kept saying if Q5 was almost 85% of what Q7s were and Q7s are around $200 higher. If I was going to play on a moderate volume, why would I care for Q7s? May be he's got a point.

I am very much interested in hearing out Q5, may be in coming week-ends. I want to plan my trip to the stores so I can audition KEFs and B&Ws in same day.

Hi amarmistry, I have been a KEF user for over 25 years, as can be seen from my signature I am currently using KEF Q55.2s and Q35.2s, these are the model that the Q5 and Q7 replaced, now I can't comment on the Q5 and Q7 as I don't have them but as they are evolutions of the Q55.2 I would imagine that they are in some way superior to the previous model.

The Q55.2 was the best speaker to my ears 3 years ago when I did my speaker upgrade thing, it was then a no brainer to select the Q35.2s for surround side and later rear duty when I upgraded my amp. For home cinema duty the natural selection for me was the Q9C and a KEF PSW 2500.

Right now I would not change my speakers as I would have to spend a substantial amount to gain any audible improvement, in short I love the way my KEFs make music, if you choose either the Q7 or the Q5 I would bet my bottom dollar that you will be more than happy, on the question of subwoofer, the Q5s go down to around 37Hertz which is low enough for most music reproduction, however to properly reproduce the LFE channel on DVDs a sub is required, you should also note that a speaker will sound completely different in your living room when compared to your car or demo room so if possible use a dealer that will allow you to demo the speakers in your own listening room. Good Luck.

I actually did audition the speakers in a separate room with the viewing and hearing distance about the same as I would in my home. I am not technical enough do go down to the frequency responce different woofers/tweeters and subs can handle. However, like you said, thoese Q7s did have good bass punch in them. I am definitely going to get sub. Also, where are your speakers made? I hear now KEFs are made in China. Not that I have any serious problems with it, but aren't british speakers better when made in britain?, I am certain lot of readers will disagree. But, I think europeans in general has marveled at making better speakers than rest of the world, IMO. Also, the inspite of me asking the orgin of KEF to the salesperson, he did not mention that they are MiC now. Hey, if I was a sales person and if I knew that I might lose a potential sell by mentioning 'MiC', I'd conviniently pass it too.

Btw, MiC-Made in China is my exclusive acronym which I'd like to see getting used more and more from now on. Its a request, not an order. Hey, I also want my acronym a little fame like Y2K.